A guide to holiday greetings

October 13, 2017

How to embrace the beauty of the season

So the current U.S. president is at it again, claiming that Christmas is never talked about and no one says Merry Christmas. This time he is doing it at the Value Voters Summit (a really nasty group of haters). I don’t know what planet he lives on. Goodness, the Merry Christmas decorations are all over the stores in the U.S., and we have yet to celebrate Halloween. He’s wrong, of course, Christmas is alive and well and celebrated by people all over the world, including the United States. There is no war on Christmas and there never has been. What the unfortunately elected president is doing is stirring up the hate among his followers; it’s what he does best. He is an example of how NOT to celebrate Christmas or any of the many December holidays.

Skip the hate: Enjoy the season

The best way to express your Christmas spirit is to be loving and caring to everyone you encounter, whether or not they celebrate the same holiday you celebrate. Here’s a short dated timeline of some appropriate greetings during the holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving and ending with Epiphany:

(note: all dates are 2017-18)

Happy Thanksgiving – November 23

Happy Hanukkah – December 12 to 20

Happy Solstice – December 21

Happy Yule – December 21 to January 1

Merry Christmas – December 25 to January 5

Happy Kwanzaa – December 26 to January 1

Merry Christmas (Orthodox) – January 7 to 18

Joyous Epiphany – January 6

Joyous Epiphany (Orthodox) – January 19

But who is celebrating what?

Of course, sometimes you may not know what holiday a particular person or group is celebrating or if they celebrate at all. Thankfully, we have a fantastic catch-all loving and caring greeting that can be using during the entire holiday season:

Happy Holidays – November 23 to January 19

This is the beauty of e pluribus unum. Out of many holiday celebrations we can express mutual affection with a single holiday greeting which beautifully encompasses all of our diverse traditions. Plus, look how long you get to celebrate the holidays when you are celebrating with everyone!

Give it a try! Put a smile on your face and joy in your heart and greet everyone with confidence this holiday season!